In Northampton on Tuesday, there's a preliminary election for mayor. It's a four-way race with three challengers seeking to unseat the incumbent. The city’s finances, and specifically how schools are funded, are a hot button issue.
Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra is seeking a second term in office. She has faced some criticism over how the Northampton schools have been funded in recent years. There is even a local political action committee, or PAC, that formed. It said it plans to support candidates across the city's political races who will commit more money towards education.
On Education
During a debate televised by Northampton Open Media and sponsored by the Northampton League of Women Voters, Sciarra cited her record on the matter.
"I've increased funding more than any mayor we can trace back to," Sciarra said. "[For] the first time in over 50 years the increase has been more than five percent for four years in a row."
One of her challengers, Jillian Duclos, has the endorsement of the Support Our Schools PAC. The former head of the Downtown Northampton Association said the city should take care of its operating budget— things like the schools and other city services first — then think about capital investments.
"We really need to be prioritizing the people who live here and making those investments," Duclos said. "That is where our power lies and we don't want to lose that."
Dan Breindel, a political newcomer who is an artist and has worked in the media, said he too believes the schools need more money. And he showed some agreement with Duclos, that Northampton should prioritize meat and potatoes issues with its spending.
"The things in that operational budget, and especially education, roads and sidewalks, cleaning up the snow and the ice, these things are top, number one priorities," Breindel said.
The fourth candidate is retired Northampton police officer David Dombrowski. When asked a question about whether the city should fund more for extra-curriculars for students, he said he agrees with that idea.
"At every turn, the parents are pulling money out of their pocket for this and that, for the schools," Dombrowski said. "The schools have to take care of the kids and... their activities."
Picture Main Street
The debate covered a lot of ground, with Sciarra, the mayor, often referring to her record during her first term in office.
Another hot topic that came up — A reconfiguration of the city's downtown called "Picture Main Street." The $26-million plan is being paid for largely with state funds and is expected to take a few years to complete. And there's been some backlash against it. Sciarra made it clear though, that she's fully behind it.
"I would absolutely say that the best thing we can do to revitalize our downtown is to complete Picture Main Street," the mayor said.
Breindel, however, said he's against it and that he's heard from business owners in the area that believe they will be negatively impacted.
"Many of them are afraid that they will have to leave, they're looking at loss in revenue," he said.
Dombrowski said the plan needs to be tweaked. And when it comes to helping local merchants, and growing business in Northampton, Duclos said there's a lot the city can do.
“Have a dedicated economic development director that would really understand the intricacies of our small businesses and [what] we could do to help them," she said.
As far as fundraising for this race goes, the incumbent, Sciarra, a former city council president, has raised more than $20,000 this year. And according to campaign finance records, she had $30,000 on hand at the end of August. Duclos had come up with $13,000, about $6,500 of that in the form of personal loans to her own campaign. She had also spent nearly that much. Breindel, a late entrant into the race, had raised $4,500 and Dombrowski about $2,000.
The top two vote getters in Tuesday's preliminary will face off in November's general election. Turnout figures to be higher than usual. Beyond the mayoral race, there’s also three preliminaries in Northampton for city council ward seats and a large field on the ballot for the two at-large seats on the panel, with a half dozen candidates on the ballot.
